Books and Bechdel
Not too long ago, NPR did a story about judging television shows using the Bechdel Rule. And much more recently, the lovely magicnoire linked to this interesting post which evaluates anime and manga the same way.
What is the Bechdel Rule you ask? It's a simple way of gauging the level of realism with which women in fiction are portrayed. You look at the media, and you find if it meets this criteria;
1. It has to have at least two women in it,
2. Who talk to each other,
3. About something other than a man.
That's it! Seems like a no-brainer, right? Except that somehow it's not. (Sex and the City is total fail)
There are also modifications you can make for race, homosexuality, ect., but I'm not going into that right now.
Anyway, this got me thinking, what books and book series pass this rule? Which ones don't?
Some that I can come up with off the top of my head...
Pass
His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman)
The Sun Sword (Michelle West)
The Chronicles of Elantaris (Michelle Sagara)
Otherland (Tad Williams)
The Keys to the Kingdom (Garth Nix)
Discworld, as a series, I'm not sure every book actually passes (Terry Pratchett)
Sunshine (Robin McKinley)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)
Sabriel & sequels (Garth Nix)
The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan)
Shannara, also as a series (Terry Brooks)
Valdemar (Mercedes Lackey)
The Sword of Truth (Terry Goodkind)
The Sally Lockhart trilogy (Philip Pullman)
The Chanters of Tremaris (Kate Constable)
The Dark is Rising Sequence (Susan Cooper)
The Redwall series (Brian Jacques)
The Unicorn Chronicles (Bruce Coville)
The Stephanie Plum series (Janet Evanovich)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey [what are you giving me that look for?] (Thornton Wilder)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
The Nancy Drew series (Caroline Keene)
A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin)
After Dark (Haruki Murakami)
Young Wizards series (Diane Duane)
Fail
The Thief & sequels (Megan Whalen Turner) D:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (John le Carre) D:
Frankenstein (Mary Shelly)
The Lies of Locke Lemora (Scott Lynch)
I'm not sure
The Belgariad, which I'm almost positive passes but it's been too long (David Eddings)
Shadowmarch, another almost positive but I'd want to check and don't have it with me (Tad Williams)
The War of the Flowers, the female characters must have talked at some point... (Tad Williams)
Good Omens, again trying to think of an instance where the female characters properly interacted... (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman)
Comment and contribute! And if you have proof for or against against any of the above, correct me! If you want to know why something passes or not, ask!
Of course, if you want to contribute, I would like you to say why your contribution does or does not pass, since I may well not know the work.
What is the Bechdel Rule you ask? It's a simple way of gauging the level of realism with which women in fiction are portrayed. You look at the media, and you find if it meets this criteria;
1. It has to have at least two women in it,
2. Who talk to each other,
3. About something other than a man.
That's it! Seems like a no-brainer, right? Except that somehow it's not. (Sex and the City is total fail)
There are also modifications you can make for race, homosexuality, ect., but I'm not going into that right now.
Anyway, this got me thinking, what books and book series pass this rule? Which ones don't?
Some that I can come up with off the top of my head...
Pass
His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman)
The Sun Sword (Michelle West)
The Chronicles of Elantaris (Michelle Sagara)
Otherland (Tad Williams)
The Keys to the Kingdom (Garth Nix)
Discworld, as a series, I'm not sure every book actually passes (Terry Pratchett)
Sunshine (Robin McKinley)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)
Sabriel & sequels (Garth Nix)
The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan)
Shannara, also as a series (Terry Brooks)
Valdemar (Mercedes Lackey)
The Sword of Truth (Terry Goodkind)
The Sally Lockhart trilogy (Philip Pullman)
The Chanters of Tremaris (Kate Constable)
The Dark is Rising Sequence (Susan Cooper)
The Redwall series (Brian Jacques)
The Unicorn Chronicles (Bruce Coville)
The Stephanie Plum series (Janet Evanovich)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey [what are you giving me that look for?] (Thornton Wilder)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
The Nancy Drew series (Caroline Keene)
A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin)
After Dark (Haruki Murakami)
Young Wizards series (Diane Duane)
Fail
The Thief & sequels (Megan Whalen Turner) D:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (John le Carre) D:
Frankenstein (Mary Shelly)
The Lies of Locke Lemora (Scott Lynch)
I'm not sure
The Belgariad, which I'm almost positive passes but it's been too long (David Eddings)
Shadowmarch, another almost positive but I'd want to check and don't have it with me (Tad Williams)
The War of the Flowers, the female characters must have talked at some point... (Tad Williams)
Good Omens, again trying to think of an instance where the female characters properly interacted... (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman)
Comment and contribute! And if you have proof for or against against any of the above, correct me! If you want to know why something passes or not, ask!
Of course, if you want to contribute, I would like you to say why your contribution does or does not pass, since I may well not know the work.